2013A Instrument Availability and Target Accessibility

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This page provides best estimates, at the time of the Call for Proposals, of instrument
availability and target (RA, dec) restrictions for 2013A.

Instrument Changes

As there are more instruments than the number of ports on each
telescope, instrument swaps will be required and not all instruments will be available for the entire semester.
When possible instrument swaps will be scheduled to
minimize impact on the queue and instrument swaps will be driven
by demand. It
may be the case that certain targets or entire programs will not be
feasible once the final schedule is determined, at ITAC or thereafter.
If an instrument is requested for less than 6% of the Bands 1+2 time, the Observatory
reserves the right to limit the RA range available to programs, or to not schedule the instrument.
Instrument changes are not permitted during
classical runs.

Gemini North Instrument Availability and Target Accessibility

All instruments are restricted for sky visibility as described in the Table and Figure below.
GNIRS
will be removed at the end of the semester for a lens replacement; although the exact date will be driven by demand, applicants with targets at RA 22h to 1h are advised to have backup targets available at earlier RA.
Observations requiring the Laser Guide Star (LGS) system
are further restricted by the limitation that the LGS must be used at or above 40 degrees elevation. How
this translates into RA and dec restrictions is indicated in the Table.
Michelle is not offered in 2013A.

Accessible

Restricted**

Inaccessible

Declination,
non-LGS

-30d to +73d

-37d to -30d,
+73d to +90d

< -37d

Declination,
LGS

-22d to +65d

-27d to -22d,
+65d to +68d

< -27d and > +68d

Right Ascension,
non-LGS

7h to 22h

4h to 7h,
22h to 1h

1h to 4h

Right Ascension,
LGS

8h to 21h

5h to 8h,
21h to 0h

0h to 5h

**Due to limited sky availability during the semester, GMOS MOS programs requiring pre-imaging should not have targets in this region, and other programs
with targets in this region should not require a large amount of time, or have strict timing or observing
constraints.

Figure 1: Schematic representation of target accessibility at
Gemini North during semester 2013A. Green regions offer unrestricted
access, red regions are inaccessible.
Hatched areas indicate the more restricted LGS regions. The yellow region is possible, but restricted.
See text, and values in the Table above.

Gemini South Instrument Availability and Target Accessibility

All instruments are restricted for sky visibility as described in the Table and Figure below. FLAMINGOS-2 will be available for System Verification only, via a separate call.
Observations using GeMS are restricted to greater than
45 degrees elevation.
GSAOI + GeMS is expected to be available for early science from February to April 2013, pending successful System Verification during 2012B. The RA and dec restrictions for GSAOI + GeMS are indicated in the Table.
GMOS-South
may be removed at the end of the semester for replacement of the CCDs; although the exact date will be driven by demand, applicants with targets at RA 0h to 2h are advised to have backup targets available.
No restrictions have been placed on the availability of NICI , however this will
be impacted by the commissioning of FLAMINGOS-2 , which will have priority.
Note that 2013A is likely to be the last A semester, and probably the last semester, that NICI will be offered.
T-ReCS is not offered in 2013A.

Accessible

Restricted**

Inaccessible

Declination

-87d to +22d

-90d to -87d,
+22d to +28d

> +28d

Declination,
GSAOI + GeMS

-65d to +5d

-70d to -65d,
+5d to +10d

< -70d and > +10d

Right Ascension

7h to 23h

5h to 7h,
23h to 2h

2h to 5h

Right Ascension,
GSAOI + GeMS

8.5h to 16.5h

6.5h to 8.5h, 16.5 to 19

19h to 6.5h

**Due to limited sky availability during the semester, GMOS MOS programs requiring pre-imaging should not have targets in this region, and other programs
with targets in this region should not require a large amount of time, or have strict timing or observing
constraints.

Figure 2: Schematic representation of target accessibility at Gemini South during semester 2013A.
Green regions offer unrestricted access, red regions are inaccessible. Hatched areas indicate the more restricted GeMS regions (note that the limited availability of GSAOI in 13A further restricts the GSAOI + GeMS combination). The yellow region is possible, but restricted. See text, and values in the Table above.

The Gemini Observatory is an international collaboration with two identical 8-meter telescopes. The Frederick C. Gillett Gemini Telescope is located on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i (Gemini North) and the other telescope on Cerro Pachón in central Chile (Gemini South); together the twin telescopes provide full coverage over both hemispheres of the sky. The telescopes incorporate technologies that allow large, relatively thin mirrors, under active control, to collect and focus both visible and infrared radiation from space.

The Gemini Observatory provides the astronomical communities in five participant countries with state-of-the-art astronomical facilities that allocate observing time in proportion to each country's contribution. In addition to financial support, each country also contributes significant scientific and technical resources. The national research agencies that form the Gemini partnership include: the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the Canadian National Research Council (NRC), the Chilean Comisión Nacional de Investigación Cientifica y Tecnológica (CONICYT), the Brazilian Ministério da Ciência, the Argentinean Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva, Tecnologia e Inovação and the Korea Astronomy and Space Institute (KASI). The observatory is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the NSF. The NSF also serves as the executive agency for the international partnership.